UBS chief executive Sergio Ermotti is planning to step down in April 2027, reported the Financial Times.
The move sets in motion a succession race for one of the most powerful roles in global banking.
Ermotti’s intended departure would come after he completes the integration of Credit Suisse, the rival lender UBS rescued in a state-orchestrated takeover in 2023, according to the report.
The planned exit comes at a pivotal moment for Switzerland’s largest bank, which is locked in a public dispute with the Swiss government over proposed tougher capital requirements.
That debate has added pressure to UBS’s leadership and sharpened investor focus on who will eventually take the helm.
Ermotti’s planned departure and unfinished agenda
Ermotti, 65, returned to UBS in 2023 at the request of chair Colm Kelleher, having previously led the bank for nine years until 2020.
He was brought back just weeks after UBS agreed to rescue Credit Suisse from collapse, with a mandate to oversee the complex integration and steady the combined group.
Sources cited in the report said Ermotti intends to step down around the time of the bank’s annual general meeting in 2027, although the exact timing has not yet been finalised and could still change.
When he returned, Ermotti committed to spending three to five years as chief executive, with responsibilities that included managing Credit Suisse’s regulatory and legal issues, developing a growth strategy, and cultivating a pipeline of potential successors.
The integration has largely proceeded smoothly, and UBS’s share price has doubled during Ermotti’s tenure.
However, his second stint has been overshadowed by a clash with the Swiss government over proposals to raise UBS’s capital requirements by about $24 billion.
UBS warned on Monday that the plans would “jeopardise” its success, and analysts have said the uncertainty has weighed on the bank’s valuation.
Implementing or responding to those reforms could fall to Ermotti’s successor.
Leading internal candidates emerge
As preparations for succession gather pace, several internal candidates have emerged.
Aleksandar Ivanovic, UBS’s asset management chief, is seen as one of the most likely contenders, according to the report.
Ivanovic, a Swiss national, joined the group’s executive board in March 2024 and has impressed senior management in running the asset management division.
Other leading candidates include UBS’s wealth management co-heads Iqbal Khan and Robert Karofsky, while Bea Martin, who was named chief operating officer in October, is also viewed as a contender.
Martin previously led UBS’s non-core and legacy unit, overseeing the wind-down of unwanted Credit Suisse assets.
Kelleher is overseeing the process and has said he hopes to emulate the orderly transition seen at his former employer, Morgan Stanley, where multiple internal candidates were considered when James Gorman stepped down in 2023.
He previously described that process as a “bloodless coup”.
Political tensions and leadership stakes
Khan, a former Credit Suisse executive, has long been viewed as a frontrunner.
He joined UBS after a high-profile dispute with his former employer and later moved to Hong Kong in 2024 to become head of Asia-Pacific.
Karofsky, formerly head of the investment bank, was appointed head of the Americas at the same time.
Ermotti had indicated in 2024 that he would step down as chief executive at the end of this year or early 2027, and people cited in the report said he could potentially return as UBS chair in the future if he chose.
He was paid SFr14.9mn ($18.7mn) for 2024, making him Europe’s best-paid bank chief executive that year.
With regulatory pressure mounting and UBS’s strategic direction under scrutiny, the choice of Ermotti’s successor will shape the bank’s next chapter long after the Credit Suisse integration is complete.
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